Public expenditure on care for older people has been rising along with the increasing number of senior citizens, and is expected to rise even more as population ageing continues. Attempts to constrain expenditures have largely focused on enabling older people to live independently longer and stressing the importance of informal caregivers as an alternative to public care. But to what extent and under which conditions can this idea actually be feasible? This question is examined in a new study by Niels Schenk and colleagues, who use the Netherlands as an example.

There is a growing debate in Europe about whether parental leave should be short or long. Although career interruptions for childbearing and child rearing are one of the key explanatory factors in women's lower earnings, there is no clear consensus on how long parental leave should optimally last. Olivier Joseph and colleagues evaluate the impact of short parental leave on mothers' employment status and subsequent wages in France.

The world is pervaded by the cultural belief that children are critical for life fulfilment and happiness, especially for women. In fact, the majority of research demonstrates the opposite: Parents are not as happy as childless people. A study by Rachel Margolis and Mikko Myrskylä now sheds new light on that paradox: All around the globe, young parents are unhappier than young adults without children. At older ages, however, the association reverses and the existence of children in these later years brings greater happiness.